SYDNEY WORLDFilm Festival

Sydney - April 7-12, 2019

FREE ENTRY

Screenings take place at Our Golden Age and Palace Central

The 1940s were the peak of the Golden Era of Cinema. Iconic films like Casablanca, Citizen Kane, The Maltese Falcon and It’s a Wonderful Life filled theaters with larger than life characters created by legendary filmmakers.

In Sydney, tucked inside the art deco Paramount House building that served as Paramount Pictures’ 1940 Oceania headquarters, was a basement screening room where executives got their first glimpse of many of these groundbreaking films. It is this venue so rich in cinematic history that will once again showcase cutting-edge films as The Sydney World Film Festival continues its quest to showcase work of cinema masters and rising talents.

The Sydney World Film Festival was launched in 2015 as an online film festival. The online environment and the technology that made it possible was critical to the success of myriad filmmakers whose works would probably never have been screened at conventional festivals.

Having a film selected at Sydney Festival was about industry prestige since the format only allowed private screenings for an international jury. Beginning in 2018, this distinguished festival enters a new era as its first brick-and-mortar event is held at the Golden Age Cinema. Free and open to the public for the first time, this venue will allow filmmakers to witness the impact their films on a live audience.

Inspired by the grand screening rooms of the past and born of today’s interconnected world, the 2019 Sydney World Film Festival will serve as a showcase for the work of cinema masters as well as rising talents. We are thrilled to offer filmmakers this fantastic opportunity.

The Sydney World Film Festival will take place at Our Golden Age and Palace Central, both in Sydney, on April 7 to 12, 2019.

2019 Screening Scheduleand official selection

Entry is FREE.

Screenings take place at Our Golden Age and Palace Central. All films are English spoken or English subtitled.

Screening ScheduleSunday, April 7 // 12.30-2.30PM // Our Golden Age

Boxes/Houses (Australia)

by Jessica Vincenza

Music Video for Australian musician Violet.
Duration: 00:04:57

Appocundria (Italy)

by Mino Capuano

A huge house was the childhood home of three brothers. The three brothers will be forced to face each other, in order to sell their old house and this will severely test their difficult relationship.
Duration: 00:35:00

The Traffic Separating Device (Sweden)

by Johan Palmgren

A traffic separating device is installed in the middle of Stockholm. It is supposed to keep normal cars away and only let buses pass.
Duration: 00:15:00

Sleep on the tracks (Canada)

by Jasmin Mozaffari

Kat, an unemployed single mom struggles to prepare for an impending interview while also having to face the task of managing her restless young daughter Jayden, who has just returned from spending an exciting week with her father.
Duration: 00:12:45

Flight of The LAD (Australia)

by Samuel Hutchinson

Nearing the end of an amazing life, inventor Duan Phillips has one last project he wishes to complete in memory of his deceased wife – a UFO shaped object, also known as The LAD.
Duration: 00:06:35

Farewell Happy Fields (Australia)

by Kyle William McDonnell

Featuring original poetry from award-winning author Fiona Wright, FAREWELL HAPPY FIELDS is a sombre, agonisingly-intimate portrait of an artist seeking treatment for their illness through their work.
Duration: 00:15:41

Danny & The Bot (Australia)

by Sean McFerran

Set in a nondescript future, we follow the story of Danny. A chain smoking asthmatic who grew up learning the only future is a ‘White Australia’.
Duration: 00:13:13

It's Her (United States)

by Travis Newsad

A "How-To" video maker runs into a slight snag while editing his project.
Duration: 00:01:00

The Kingdom of Men (Hong Kong)

by Sham Kwan Yinm

An experimental short integrated the creative process of contemporary theatre art in filmmaking.
Duration: 00:22:31

After Silence (Australia)

by Peter Kalos

As he’s about to jump off a rooftop, Tom hears a voice calling out from the window ledge below. It’s him, but a version of him that didn’t pursue his dream.
Duration: 00:07:52

Diva & Astro (United States)

by Angel Barroeta

A streetwise posse idly roams the evening in the hood they call home. Diva and Astro follow parallel paths in real time, hurtling irrevocably toward the consequences of the habits they find hardest to overcome.
Duration: 00:08:43

Nocturnes (France)

by Emmanuel Levy

Music Video for the solo EP "Nocturnes" by double bass player Sébastien Beliah
Duration: 00:03:39

Passage (Canada)

by Henry Colin

Friendship. Life. Loss. Tragedy. The story of brothers Tim and Tyler, growing up in the coastal community of Eastern Passage, as told through the eyes of their friend Luke.
Duration: 00:10:40

Curiosity Met The Cat (Australia)

by Maksym Poplavskiy

A strange cat arrives on Mars via a shuttle and begins exploring the landscape, only to be discovered by the curiosity rover. The rover then takes and sends a picture of the cat back to NASA, leading people on Earth to believe that there is alien life on Mars.
Duration: 00:01:12

Your Darkness (United States)

by Greg McLeod, Myles McLeod

A town on the borderlands of Texas. A desert where strange lights dance in the night sky. A landscape of lost horses, freaks and food trucks. And then there’s the giant lemon.
Duration: 00:08:33

Your Eyes, Will I Ever (France)

by Félicien Colmet Daâge

In a house lost in the middle of the desert a man sees his girlfriend gradually transform into a butterfly.
Duration: 00:04:22

Body Echo (United Kingdom)

by Ali Aschman

A woman discovers her own fractured self in the room next door. Body Echo expresses psychological fragility and fragmentation of identity.
Duration: 00:02:58

Singularity (Australia)

by Mister

Evolution is the ultimate journey, always in the now and always moving forward. Our film explores the journey of life, showing its complexity and scale.
Duration: 00:02:10

Deserto (Italy)

by Jacopo Miliani

‘Deserto’ reflects on the possibility of multiple identities through the invention of a new language.
Duration: 00:06:08

Elisa (Germany)

by Kristina Kean Shtubert

'Elisa' portrays the claustrophobic and extremely painful relationship between nine year old Elisa and her mother.
Duration: 00:15:53

Nicabob (United States)

by Daneeta Loretta Jackson, Patrick Jackson

A lonely teenager inadvertently makes a real human connection when he shuts down his Youtube channel after haters attack him.
Duration: 00:14:00

Songs in the Song (Denmark)

by Kristian Sejrbo Lidegaard

On a hot summer day, Anna visits her childhood friend Julie, on the Danish island Møn, where they both grew up. Julie is obsessed with an old Danish myth and spends all her time in the forest.
Duration: 01:10:15

I Come From The Fire City (United States)

by Daniel Daly

The City of the Future (United Kingdom)

by Marcos Mereles

Duration: 00:00:15

Shading (Australia)

by Vonne Patiag

Shading is a short documentary that explores current white-washing practices of the Australian film and theatre industries that are unfamiliar with the nuances of darker shades of ethnic skin.
Duration: 00:07:14

Come and visit our festival in the wonderful Sydney, Australia.

SUBMIT A FILM

SUBMISSIONS
All non-English language films must be subtitled in English. Entry does not guarantee acceptance into the festival. Submissions WILL NOT be returned. We also accept submissions that have premiered elsewhere and that may have distribution agreements already in place. However, TV, theatrical, online video, other festival, or other distribution outlets that run concurrently or in the same month of the festival may not be eligible for screening. Rough cuts and incomplete projects are not accepted. Multiple entries are allowed, however a separate entry form must be submitted for each. The festival has the capability to screen BluRay and DCP.

EXHIBITION & SCREENING
Screenings are scheduled during the Festival at the discretion of the Sydney World Film Festival. Whilst every effort will be made to adhere to the published schedule, Sydney World Film Festival reserves the right to make changes at any time for any reason. Sydney World Film Festival will not be liable for any costs claimed as a result of a change in scheduling. No film may be withdrawn from the festival program after its selection. If chosen as an official selection, Sydney World Film Festival is granted the permission to exhibit the film at the Sydney World Film Festival and all associated screenings. Location and timing of any screenings of the film shall be the sole decision of the organizers of the Sydney World Film Festival. Filmmakers will be solely responsible for all costs resulting from the submission of the film to the Festival including but not limited to postage or insurance of the film, and expenses of your staff or any representatives of the film. Producer will indemnify the organizers of the Festival against all claims, demands, costs, damages, expenses (including legal fees), proceedings and losses resulting from the screening of the film at the Festival or from claims by any third parties.

LOSS OR DAMAGE
Although every precaution will be taken to prevent loss or damage to materials while in the possession of the festival, The Sydney World Film Festival is not responsible should any materials be damaged while in transit to or from, or while in the possession of the festival.

ENTRY LIABILITY
The filmmaker holds the Sydney World Film Festival, its management, juries, subsidiaries, agents, sponsors, affiliates, and etc. harmless from any and all claims of liability resulting from entry. The filmmaker certifies to have full rights. Producer will indemnify the organizers of the Festival against all claims, demands, costs, damages, expenses (including legal fees), proceedings and losses resulting from the screening of the film at the Festival or from claims by any third parties.

SCREENING FEE
The festival does not offer screening fees for its films. By submitting through FilmFreeway you are agreeing to NOT request a screening fee as a requirement for your film's participation in the festival, should your film get selected for the program.

WAIVER REQUESTS
Since the festival only requires a nominal entry fee, we will NOT accept requests for other entry fee waivers.

Contact Us

About Us

In Sydney, tucked inside the art deco Paramount House building that served as Paramount Pictures’ 1940 Oceania headquarters, was a basement screening room where executives got their first glimpse of many of these groundbreaking films. Inspired by the grand screening rooms of the past and born of today’s interconnected world, the 2019 Sydney World Film Festival will serve as a showcase for the work of cinema masters as well as rising talents.